Life

For Ted Nolan, taking a break from the bench hasn't exactly meant taking a break.

"I've been pretty busy," Nolan said. "I think I need to get back to hockey, so I can have a rest."

The 50-year-old Garden River-based coach was joking, of course, but Nolan hasn't exactly had much down time since he parted ways with the NHL's New York Islanders this past summer.

Home renovations, autumn yard work and his charity, the Ted Nolan Foundation, have made it easy for him to make the most of his days and nights off.

"I've been doing a lot of work with the foundation lately," Ted said. "I've let things slide a little, so I'm taking the opportunity to work with the board, work on our mission statement, and it's been going really good."

Another highlight of his time off has been the extra time spent with his wife Sandra, as well as sons, 25-year-old Brandon and 19-year-old Jordan, a left-winger this season for the Ontario Hockey League's Soo Greyhounds.

It's going on three years, since the Nolans had a condominium in St. Catharines, Ont., that Ted has been able to watch one of his sons play hockey on a regular basis. Between OHL stints with Erie and Windsor, Jordan played for the St. Catharines Falcons of the Golden Horsehoe Junior B League during the 2005- 06 campaign.

"It's been great to watch Jordan play," Ted said. "I've been able to see every one of his home games except one.

"What's been really great about this is getting the chance to reconnect with family."

Even when his duties as a player and coach took him far from his hometown, Ted kept close ties with the community where he broke into the major junior game.

After a single season with the Kenora Thistles of the Manitoba Junior Hockey League, he laced up skates in 1976 for the Greyhounds.

He played two seasons as a left-winger for the Hounds, tallying 68 points in 126 games and gained enough reputation as a hard-nosed competitor to help convince the Detroit Red Wings to make him a fifth-round pick, 78th overall, in the 1978 NHL Entry Draft.

Ted played parts of three NHL seasons, and a total of 78 games, with Detroit and Pittsburgh, while also enjoying a productive minor-league career.

But it wasn't until he moved into the coaching ranks, against with the Soo in the late 1980s, that Ted truly came into his own.

He led the Hounds to the J. Ross Robertson Cup, symbolic of OHL supremacy, in both 1991 and 1992. Then came the Memorial Cup, as the top junior team in North America, in 1993.

Ted reached the NHL again in 1994, as an assistant coach with the Hartford Whalers. He then coached the Buffalo Sabres for two years, winning the Jack Adams award in 1997 as coach of the year following a 40-win campaign.

But Ted and Sabres management couldn't work out a contract extension, and he ended up spending some nine years on the sidelines.

A break back into the business came in 2005, when Ted took the coaching reins of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League's Moncton Wildcats.

Apparently having lost little of his touch, he promptly led the Wildcats to the QMJHL championship and the Memorial Cup final.

"My last junior experience in Moncton was probably one of the best hockey experiences I have ever had," Ted said.

A return to the NHL followed, this time with the New York Islanders. But after showing some promise and making the post-season in 2006-07, the Islanders faltered and finished out of the playoffs in 2007-08.

Ted disagreed with his general manager, Garth Snow, as to the reason for the disappointing campaign, and was finally relieved of his duties in July.

Since then, he's thrown himself into family duties and work with his foundation, which provides First Nations women with scholarships, but is still keeping a close eye on the job status of his colleagues in the NHL.

"All the jobs I want are filled right now," Ted said. "We'll see what happens."

Despite leaving both of his NHL jobs amid disputes with management, he doesn't intend to be overly choosy about where he makes his return to the professional ranks.

"In any successful organization, obviously, it helps if you can work with the right people," he said. "But unfortunately, you can't be too picky.

"There are many organizations I'd be thrilled and honoured to work for."

He remains focused on the NHL, despite having fond memories of his days in Moncton and Sault Ste. Marie.

There was some speculation he might have been interested in returning to the Greyhounds following the departure of Craig Hartsburg, had the timing been different. As it was, former Hartsburg assistant Denny Lambert took the job less than a month before Ted left New York.

But Nolan said his time as the Soo's bench boss is done. And Lambert has his full support.

"I had a great time in the Sault," Ted said. "But I had my moment. Denny's doing a good job for the team.

"Everyone has their own knack and their own personality. And Denny's a guy that will get them working for things."

"Right now, I'm happy to just be a fan of the Soo Greyhounds."

That seems to be more than enough for Jordan, who's off to a three-goal, three-assist start in eight games.

"I missed having him around," Jordan said. "Now I know he's watching me and I want to play well for him. I have ever since I was young."

This year, Jordan and his brother joined their parents at the family home in Garden River, for their first family Thanksgiving dinner together in several years.

"Yeah, it's definitely the first time in a long time," Jordan said. "My brother was there with his fiancée and we all got to spend the whole day together. My dad and my brother and I even went partridge hunting. There was a lot of family stuff."

"We've never even been here past August," Sandra added. "It's been really nice to be here and see all of these fall colours.

"It has been really nice having (Ted) around. He's just such an easygoing guy. He's not hard to get along with."

But though she appreciates having her husband around the house, she's as hopeful as he is that an NHL team will come calling.

"I hope so," Sandra said. "I know how important it is to him and I know he deserves it."

But for the moment, this fan of the Soo Greyhounds is also an NHL fan, and one who isn't shy about predicting a Stanley Cup champion.

He thinks the same team that drafted him, that won it all last season, will go all the way again.

"I think that team that's only six hours from us is going to do it again," Ted said. "They're just too good, too well-coached, too well-managed. It's a great organization."